site attibute
Pulse species comparison
Key findings
- Field peas had the highest grain yield of the pulse species evaluated, averaging 2.1 t/ha. APB BondiA was the standout variety at 2.4 t/ha.
- Albus lupins were the next best pulse, with both Luxor and Murringo yielding 1.8 t/ha.
- Chickpeas were the highest yielding of the high value pulses at 1.5 t/ha, with similar yield for early sown faba beans.
- Lentil yield from machine harvest was ~0.8 t/ha, but a hand cut sample two weeks earlier (mature but not quite ready to harvest) yielded more than double (~1.7 t/ha) the machine harvest. This highlights the potential for lentils, a high value pulse option, the importance of timely harvest, and the challenges of picking up lentils from the ground with the header.
- Field peas had the highest peak biomass (related to N-fix) at 8.6 t/ha, with chickpeas second highest (5.0 t/ha). All other pulse species grew <5 t/ha biomass (measured at 30–50% podding).
- Nitrogen was applied to selected varieties of each species and had little effect on yield or seed nitrogen concentration. The nitrogen application was included to enable a comparison of N-fixation in a high N environment between species.
- Seed nitrogen concentration was highest in albus lupins and lowest in chickpeas. Seed N concentration is important when calculating the nitrogen balance (N-fixation – N removed) of a pulse crop.
- As a comparison with the pulse species, canola yielded 0.5 t/ha and wheat yielded 2.4 t/ha (low N fertility) to 3.4 t/ha (high N fertility).
Trial details
Faba bean disease management
Key findings
- In-crop rainfall was very low in 2023 (~92 mm) and therefore diseases such as chocolate spot were not detected.
- The dry season suited PBA NasmaA better than PBA SamiraA, with grain yield of 1.58 t/ha and 1.22 t/ha, respectively. Much of this yield was grown using residual stored soil moisture from the very wet 2022 season.
- Four fungicide treatments were planned including Nil, Budget, Reactive and Complete. As two of these treatments were reactive to rainfall forecasts, only the Complete and Nil fungicide treatment were applied.
- Despite the lack of disease present, there was a small (likely uneconomic) benefit of fungicide application on grain yield (0.1 t/ha).
Trial details
Results
Chickpea disease management
The trial was set up to evaluate different fungicide management strategies for two chickpea varieties with contrasting ascochyta blight resistance. PBA DrummondA is rated Very Susceptible (VS) and CBA CaptainA is rated Moderately Susceptible (MS).
The Nil (untreated) and Complete fungicide treatments were the same for the two varieties, but the Budget and Reactive treatments were designed to apply more fungicide to the VS rated PBA Drummond than the MS rated CBA Captain.
Key findings
- Due to extremely low and inconsequential level of ascochyta blight, only the Nil and Complete fungicide treatments are reported here.
- CBA Captain yielded 0.49 t/ha more than PBA Drummond.
- Despite very low rainfall, grain yield of CBA Captain averaged a respectable 1.79 t/ha, with much of the yield due to accessing deep stored soil water following a very wet 2022.
Trial details
Results